No. The KJV contains errors that, while relatively minor in terms of Scripture’s overall message and small in total number, are not insignificant[1].
The distinction between the original biblical texts and any translation is crucial. Fundamentalist scholars have historically contended that inerrancy applies to “the original record—the autographs or parchments of Moses, David, Daniel, Matthew, Paul or Peter,” not to any particular translation[1]. As one early fundamentalist stated, “There is no translation absolutely without error, nor could there be, considering the infirmities of human copyists, unless God were pleased to perform a perpetual miracle to secure it”[1].
The KJV translators themselves never claimed perfection. The Anglican clergy working on the King James Version stated their purpose was not to make a new translation, but to make a good one better[2]. Additionally, King James I gave specific instructions to the translators that shaped their work, including requirements about ecclesiastical terminology and conformity to Church of England theology[2], which influenced translation choices beyond purely textual considerations.
Modern scholarship recognizes this reality. For many evangelical Christians, inerrancy extends only to the autographs of the Bible, while the manuscripts and English translations that descended from them are understood to contain variation in readings, from scribal mistakes to theological emendations[3]. There is nothing deceptive about referring to our Bibles as authoritative Scripture even though they are not absolutely perfect—they remain “to all practical intents and purposes … a thoroughly accurate rendering of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as originally given”[1].
[1] William W. Combs, “Errors in the King James Version?,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 4 (1999), 4:162–163.
[2] Modern English Version (Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014), ix–x.
[3] Amy Anderson and Wendy Widder, Textual Criticism of the Bible, ed. Douglas Mangum, Lexham Methods Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), 183.
No comments:
Post a Comment